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3.5l V6 Engine Record

223K views 172 replies 104 participants last post by  ViolentLee 
#1 ·
How is your 3.5l V6?
Running Strong, doesn't use any oil17524.44%
Running Strong, uses some oil (<1qt in 1k miles)35649.72%
Running Strong, uses more oil than gas (>1qt in 1k miles)11415.92%
Dead & Replaced (or sold). Used no oil when alive172.37%
Dead & Replaced (or sold). Used oil when alive547.54%
 
#127 ·
jetpirate said:
Other than using Rotella T6 and making sure the PCV valve is clear what other options are out there to slow the oil burn?

Thanks for any help.
Not a timely response, but perhaps it can help you or others. I have taken mine from (2 years ago) using a quart every 500/1,000 miles to using a quart in 5,000 miles (this past year). Cost me $4 (1/2 a can of SeaFoam). Basically, I did this:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74483

I ran Delvac for 10k miles (2 years, 145k to 155k miles on odo) before this, it helped a bit and progressively. Then I did 2oz SeaFoam soak for a few days right at one year ago. I have used 1qt. in 5k miles since then. I repeated it the other day, got a little smoke for 15 minutes but that was all, not at all like the 1st time. I switched to a full synthetic now from Delvac - using Pennzoil 5w-30 Platinum Plus. I'll run that to keep things clean. 160k on the odo now and running smooth strong, and burning little oil. In fact part of the 1qt that burned was, it appears now, leaking into spark plug journals from bad seals. So actually burned less than a quart in 5k miles (new valve cover gasket and spark plug seals on order/on the way).
 
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#128 ·
Can you explain how you did your Seafoam soak? It seems that it involves removing the spark plugs and pouring two ounces of Seafoam into each cylinder and letting it sit for two days?
Thanks, Steve
 
#129 ·
Sorry I did not see that question.

Yes, just what you said.

1) I pulled the plugs and put 1.5 to 2 ozs of seafoam in each cylinder.
2) I put an oily wad torn from a shop towel in the plug hole to both a) protect cylinder, but also b) increase vapor pressure in their so it evaporated less quickly.
3) Let it sit a while - overnight, two days, etc.
4) Pull the wads, crank the engine a bit to blow out fluid.
5) Insert plugs and re-start. Do so outside as it will smoke badly for a while.

The first time I did it - 12/13, it smoked INSANELY for 10 minutes. Oil usage dropped dramatically. I continued using HDEO the next year and then 12/14 when I was doing some other work on it (cv boots), I repeated it. Note that each time, it was difficult to restart and took a a little bit to stabilize the idle - don't be alarmed. Not nearly as much smoke as the 1st time, then switched to PP synthetic 5w-30. Engine runs smoother than ever (since I've owned it - 4+ years), makes no smoke on start ever, and only oil I am loosing is I think due to spark plug seals so am changing them all this month.

This maybe too late to help you but perhaps others can benefit. I did this based on recommendations from others on this forum and it worked great for me.
 
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#130 ·
Oro said:
Sorry I did not see that question.

Yes, just what you said.

1) I pulled the plugs and put 1.5 to 2 ozs of seafoam in each cylinder.
2) I put an oily wad torn from a shop towel in the plug hole to both a) protect cylinder, but also b) increase vapor pressure in their so it evaporated less quickly.
3) Let it sit a while - overnight, two days, etc.
4) Pull the wads, crank the engine a bit to blow out fluid.
5) Insert plugs and re-start. Do so outside as it will smoke badly for a while.

The first time I did it - 12/13, it smoked INSANELY for 10 minutes. Oil usage dropped dramatically. I continued using HDEO the next year and then 12/14 when I was doing some other work on it (cv boots), I repeated it. Note that each time, it was difficult to restart and took a a little bit to stabilize the idle - don't be alarmed. Not nearly as much smoke as the 1st time, then switched to PP synthetic 5w-30. Engine runs smoother than ever (since I've owned it - 4+ years), makes no smoke on start ever, and only oil I am loosing is I think due to spark plug seals so am changing them all this month.

This maybe too late to help you but perhaps others can benefit. I did this based on recommendations from others on this forum and it worked great for me.
Thanks, I plan to do this soon. Has anyone used Chemtool B 12 instead of Seafoam?
 
#131 ·
SteveSample said:
Thanks, I plan to do this soon. Has anyone used Chemtool B 12 instead of Seafoam?
If you have Chemtool on hand, it would be worth trying it with that.

a) Late model 4cyl Camry's have this identical drain hole problem (2007 to 2011 I think - earlier ones had oil issues but it was related to headbolt flaws). I have read in their huge thread on the forum at Toyotanation.com that some have tried Chemtool w/good results.

b) Looking at the MSDS for Chemtool, it is very similar to Seafoam with about the same amount of carrier oil (kerosene-like distillate), but with the solvent slightly different (Xylene vs. Naptha) and ratios of solvent to alcohol different. So all-in-all, should work about the same.

So looking at these factors, I would not hesitate to use Chemtool for the soak if that was already on my shelf or handier to get.
 
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#133 ·
Got a '98 3.5 with 220k. Bought it about 6 mo ago and was boring a quart in about 250-300 mi. Started running diesel 15w40 in it and was still burning. I ran whatever I thought was a good deal, Mobil, rotel, dello. Was drivong 3 hr home after a 12 hr day and in a hurry, so I was beating the $h;+ out of it and oil consumption dropped since then to about 1 qt every 1500mi. A month or two befor that I had fixed a pluged egr passage and replaced the pcv but... So far so good...
 
#134 ·
I love my Trooper. I have over 300k on my last two Troopers. they are both 99s but now with 150k on my second Trooper its burning a quart every 100 miles. I am glad to see this forum to discuss I have tried most of what people have had success with but have seen no progress in oil consumption. What are my options of alternative engines to replace it with? I will be keeping my eyes out for a good 2002 3.5 if there is nothing better to use. Thanks
 
#135 ·
I still haven't done a piston soak, since I have been driving every day. At 124,000 miles, I am still only burning about 1 quart per 2000 miles, using high detergent Rotella T and Delvac diesel oils.
 
#136 ·
I have a late 01 trooper with 51k original miles. i bought it sept of last year with 46800 miles. I havent had any of the oil problems a lot of people have with theirs. i saw something that the last 2001's and all 2002's had this problem fixed.
 
#137 ·
I have a 2002 with 67K original miles. I am the original owner.
I did have oil consumption problems making me eligible for long block swap under warranty.
New engine since 2012 at 52K miles. That makes it 15K on the new engine.
No oil burning issues anymore.
I have to give it to Isuzu that they honored warranty even after almost 10 years of ownership.
Transmission was also rebuilt at 48K miles under warranty. Funny it broke down even though dealer had serviced transmission at 30 K service. Now I drain/refill more often.

Apart from new starter and EGR cleaning no other issues.
 
#138 ·
I have owned my 99 Trooper with TOD since new, has 145K on it used on trips between Colorado and Old Mexico.
Yes it uses oil since 5K miles on the clock, burn less when we use: Rotella T 15W40 Motor Oil.
Remember to check your oil every two tanks of fuel.

Transmission check every 50K miles, have changed the transmission filter once and the shifter control unit on the drivers side of the transmission once, purchase the caddy part for 1/2 the price at GM dealers.
EGR is from a Camaro , exact fit.
Replaced the started at around 75K miles.
 
#139 ·
Hi all,

Wow, back in 2003 or so, my 3.5 engine detonated due to the usual oil issues. I had to purchase a new long block from the factory. All said and done, $9K installed by the Isuzu dealer. New one has been much better, just surprised some were able to get warranty work after 10 years? How?

tx Dave
 
#140 ·
So the cold snap we have had here in the Northwest over the past week has really amplified my Trooper's issues. I have been burning a quart per 600 miles approximately since I bought it a year and a half ago. I've tried Rotella and Delvac for the past year without Improvement. I've read about the ring land drain holes and it makes sense to me. I'm positive that's my Troopers issues. I've been a little leery about trying The Sea Foam cylinder soak but I plan to do that this weekend after reading about this procedure from many people. After reading and understanding it much more it also makes sense to me.

Also as mentioned above the cold weather makes cold start up a lot noisier than usual. I surmise that the oil passages throughout the motor may also be constricted due to deposits similar to the ring land drain holes situation. I know the ring lands have the extra issue of coking from heat but I'm sure all throughout the motor there are sludge and deposit formations. In particular I think the passages leading to and inside my lifters are restricted causing cold start valve clatter. However it only sounds like one is having the problem. And it sounds like my number 3? It appears to be coming from the right rear most cylinder area. Anyway I've also considered running seafoam in the crankcase for a couple hundred miles then change it and repeat the process for another couple hundred miles as I have read about others trying this procedure also with good results.

I am a nut when it comes to oil changes every 2,500 miles including engine flush each time. I'm disappointed that none of this has seemed to help at all with consumption and engine noise. Any suggestions comments ideas are welcome before I jump headlong into something I'll regret because of incomplete feedback or information.
 
#142 ·
Thanks that's good advice and I feel a little more comfortable trying this with your recommendation. I think you're probably the most familiar with these Troopers oil issues than anyone else just simply considering the fact that this topic dates back to 04. You know I'm glad you mentioned the tilt method because I thought about that and wondered if that would help or if anyone else thought of it. So I'm not crazy in my thought process since others have considered tilting.

How about seafoam in the crankcase for a couple hundred miles at a time? Do you think that would be advisable to clean out deposits in the oil passages throughout the motor? And do you know of others that have tried it successfully?
 
#143 ·
I've never heard of that and personally I wouldn't want to dilute the oil like that for fear of wiping a bearing. If you are concerned with other build-up, perhaps try sea-foam.

I always used to run the 5W40 Rotella as well because of the additional cleaning properties.

-Tad
 
#144 ·
Howdy from the PNW! I drove my Trooper in the snow first time in several years, to pick my daughter up from work last night. Performed flawlessly as always!

Onto your noise issue, one thing about your 3.5, it doesn't have hydraulic lifters or lash adjusters. These have a DOHC design where the camshaft lobes ride directly on the valve shim/bucket assembly to actuate the valves. So if you have ticking that you think is from a lifter, you'd need to check or have checked the valve clearances and then add/remove shims as necessary to adjust. I recall that there are older postings on this topic, but you'd generally need a special tool to depress the bucket for shim remove/add. And that's only if the shims are on top. If the shims are at the bottom of the bucket (as are some designs), you'd have to pull the cams for any adjustments. I can't recall which way these are, although I think I remember Jerry Lemond talking about the bucket tool, so maybe shims are at the top. The 3.5 Engine Gurus should be able to answer that one.

Another thought, what you might be hearing is piston slap, which would be worse in cold weather. Typically that'll go away as the engine warms.

Seafoam is an excellent carbon cleaner and was invented years ago to clean up carbon deposits in the old-time outboards. Which was a real problem due to the low-quality oil they ran, at very rich mixtures. So it's been around for a while!

If you're gonna run Seafoam in the crankcase, you should plan on an oil change afterwards. I don't think a couple hundred miles with Seafoam at the recommended levels (1 oz per quart crankcase capacity, as I recall) will hurt anything.

You might consider running Mobil 1 0W-20 in the winter and see if that improves things. The lower-viscosity oil will flow faster into the smaller passages and lubricate more quickly.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-0W-2 ... ./17034374

Also make sure you have a quality oil filter. Lots of past discussion on that, but you couldn't go wrong with a Mobil 1 "extended performance" synthetic filter, either.

Last thought, there's a very good carbon cleaner by Gumout, called "Regane". It has high levels of PEA (Polyetheramine) which is also found in Chevron Techron. Very cheap at Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gumout-Regan ... r/16888905

The "hi miles" stuff has a touch of top-end lubricant, otherwise the same as the standard cleaner.

I would run at least 1 tank of the stuff thru, maybe even multiple tanks. Couldn't hurt and might even help with the ring "coking".

HTH & keep us updated.............ed
 
#145 ·
Thanks guys. So I'm in the Walmart parking lot right now about to buy some seafoam and other items. I thought about the Piston slap thing and was hoping against hope that somebody else might have other ideas. But yes I already thought that it sounded just like piston slap unfortunately. Because it does go away as the engine warms and is louder the colder it is. So at this point I've been spending all day researching online whether I should overhaul this engine, install another crate motor, or just sell Trooper and get something else. I know this is blasphemy but I have to think about what's more cost effective. I have put about $4000 in repairs and maintenance into my Trooper over the past 18 months. When will it end? I mean I love this thing but she's a bit expensive to keep happy. Do any of you have suggestions for engine rebuilders or crate motor sellers?
 
#146 ·
I don't know anything about these guys except that they're local (Tacoma) and advertise a lot of JDM Isuzu engines on Craigslist:

http://www.japaneseautoengines.com/

Here's one of their current Craigslist ads: https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ptd/5874129790.html

The only problem with a used engine is it may have the oil burning problem anyway. Anything older than the 2002 model with screw-in PCV valve (vice push-in valve) isn't supposed to have the improved oil drain holes in the pistons.

You could pull 'er down for a rebuild but these aren't the easiest engines in the world to work on. Has been done, though. You could rebuild with improved pistons. Of course, your 2002 is already supposed to have those! Go figure! :?

Funny thing is, GM used to say that any piston slap that went away when the engine was up to full operating temperature was OK! :drunken:

I ran a '95 Swift 1.3 for thousands of miles with piston slap in the morning. When I pulled it apart for a "refresh" all the bores looked perfect, with no scuffing, and cross-hatching still present. Installed new std pistons with Swain Tech anti-friction coating and while this did help a bit, there was still a bit of clatter when cold. Didn't worry about it though, the engine ran great, used no oil, and was going strong with 100,000 miles on it when I sold it to my nephew. Almost 5 years later he's put at least another 25,000 on it and the engine runs like a swiss watch. I don't think the piston slap is going to be a problem!

On yours, hard to say whether the slightly excessive piston skirt-to-cyl clearances are causing any problems, or even oil-burning. You could pull your plugs and see if any of them are noticeably worse than the others. But this engine has a rep for oil-burning, so there you are.

You might consider doing the carbon-cleaning regimen then see how it does. If the oil-burning improves, I'd be less inclined to tear the engine apart if the piston slap is the only problem. Unless/until it doesn't go away when the engine's warmed, then that's a real problem.

And if the oil-burning continues or gets worse after cleaning, then yeah, the only likely solution is to pull the engine for a rebuild. Unless you can find a good-running used engine that you can prove doesn't use oil, it's far less risk to rebuild so you know it's done right.

Anyway, G'luck with the carbon-cleaning, not much to lose at this point by doing so........ed

p.s. Craigslist is your friend, I've seen more than one late-model Troop with a rebuilt engine then the tranny blows! Going Cheap!!!
 
#147 ·
Definitely food for thought. About to do seafoam through the intake and a few ounces in the crankcase. I'll give it a few days and an oil change to determine if the crankcase improved.
 
#148 ·
Here's a complete, running, intact 2wd 2002 Trooper in Everett for $900!

Cheaper than just the engine from a wrecking yard, and you can drive it for evaluation.

Pull the engine after you have confidence in its operation, and throw it in your rig (or rebuild as necessary).

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5885755966.html
 
#149 ·
OMG, that Trooper looks exactly like mine! Same paint scheme and interior. Mine is 4x4 however and I have Outlaw II's on mine with zero offset so the wheels sit just at the edge of the fender flares giving it the more aggressive look I think all Trooper's should have come from the factory with. Anyway, I really like your idea and the condition of this Trooper's body panels (mine has a couple "character lines"). I'll give the owner a call and see if I can swing it. If it does run well it's worth 900 for a parts car at least if not another runner to be refreshed.
 

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#150 ·
I had no idea Trooper's came available without 4 wheel drive?
 
#151 ·
Silver2002Trooper said:
I had no idea Trooper's came available without 4 wheel drive?
Yeah, isn't that odd? 2WD versions of the Trooper were available in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The automatic version had the same EPA city rating as the 5-speed (2WD or 4WD), so maybe they were trying to help their CAFE figures. Or maybe they thought they were tapping into a big 2WD station wagon-type of market. Dunno if they sold many of 'em but you do see 'em in the Craigslist once in a while.
 
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